A Winter Tour of the Morse Preserve with the Marvins!

Hikers climb Pine Mountain on the Forest Society's Morse Preserve (photo: S. Marvin)

Forty-two people gathered together on Saturday at the Mike Burke Parking Lot to hike Pine Mountain, more recently known as the Forest Society's Morse Preserve. The hike was planned to be a snow-shoe hike. The leaders, land stewards Ken and Suzanne Marvin, picked February this year thinking that there surely would be a thick cover of snow on the ground by then. The thin cover of snow, which had previously melted and then crusted over with ice, made wearing some type of crampon the best footwear.

The group, many previously strangers to each other, set out together for the 1.7 mile trek. Stopping often along the trail to talk about various animals, trees, insects and area history, Ken Marvin lead the group to the top where they got out their packed lunches and enjoyed the somewhat clouded view of the Belknap and Ossipee Ranges. The group ranged in age from 1 year to 80 years of age.

Hazy but still beautiful views from the top (photo: S. Marvin)

Following the hike, Suzanne said, "I was reminded again, New Hampshire is a great place to live or visit! People who don’t know each other, gather together in a group of all ages and hike a trail. Because of the generosity of people like Mary Jane Morse Greenwood, there are many trails in NH open to public hiking.  I wouldn't be surprised if some of the hikers from Saturday try that hike again in July to see if there are any blueberries on those bushes..."

A grey fox specimen (stuffed) placed by the Marvins to talk about wildlife habitat. (photo: S. Marvin)

Winter on Gap Mountain?

[Post by Gap Mountain Land Steward Hiel Lindquist]

The first day of winter on Gap Mountain was quite warm. Hard to believe we had over 4 feet of snow this season already as there is no snow left anywhere on the 22 day of December. It was almost tee shirt weather for the hike up the south trail. Nice veiws off the summit today and with the low clouds and falling temperatures, maybe there will be some snow in the near future?

 Until then, I want to wish everyone at the Forest Society and all the Land Stewards a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!!

There is not much left of the old ski tow building and equipment. Easily visable just off the south trail (look for a T on a pine tree near the first steep section) (Photo: H.Lindquist)

Mt. Monadnock in all its glory, from the middle summit of Gap Mountain (photo: H.  Lindquist)

Gap Mountain South Peak on the left and the twin white spires in Fitzwilliam village on the right (photo: H.Lindquist)

Looking southeast from Gap Mountain towards Pack Monadnock - North and South Peaks (photo: H.Lindquist)

Early Winter Ashuelot River Headwaters Hike

Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest (photo: S.Lichty)

Fourteen hikers made the trek up Silver Mountain on the Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest last weekend as part of a land steward-led hike co-sponsored by the Harris Center for Conservation Education and the Forest Society. Ben Haubrich (steward for High Five Reservation and Hedgehog Mountain Reservation, both in Deering) and Susan Lichty (steward for Ashuelot River Headwaters Forest in Lempster) worked together to plan and implement this early winter event. Many of the participants were Forest Society members, but not all of them had experienced this gem of a hike before, especially on such a clear and beautiful day. The bare summit of Silver Mountain offers stunning panoramic views from which hikers can easily discern iconic NH peaks like Mounts Monadnock, Sunapee, and Kearsarge. When the hike concluded last Saturday, most of the participants opted for an "extension" - which was a visit to the nearby Silver Mountain Winery that sells locally-produced hard ciders and fruit wines and offers tastings to the public. A nice way to warm up from the outdoor chill!

Hikers ready to get started (photo: S.Lichty)

Well-worn flag flies atop Silver Mountain (photo: S.Lichty)

View from Silver Mountain summit (photo: S.Lichty)

Heading up the trail (photo: S.Lichty)

Cabin at ARHF (photo: S.Lichty)

Little Harbor Loop Trail - A Collaborative Effort in Portsmouth

The Little Harbor Loop Trail, a new 1.5 mile walking loop in Portsmouth, NH, was constructed last weekend by local volunteers. This trail connects three parcels of land which are open to the public: the Forest Society’s Creek Farm Reservation, the state’s Wentworth-Coolidge Historic Site, and conservation land owned by the City of Portsmouth. More than 30 volunteers, including a scout troop, members of the Friends of Creek Farm and Portsmouth Conservation Commission, and several Forest Society land stewards gathered Saturday morning to clear the route and install guiding signage. It was a spirited workday, and a satisfying one as participants got to enjoy the results of their efforts immediately. Several walkers along Little Harbor Road also detoured to explore the new trail just as the work group was finishing up... ahead of the impending snow, luckily! The Little Harbor Loop trail is a terrific example of collaboration between individuals, governmental organizations and non-profits, and the new route through open forest and along scenic Sagamore Creek will be a wonderful addition to recreational opportunities already available for Portsmouth residents. A hiking map of the new trail is available on the Creek Farm page of the Forest Society's Online Guide to Our Lands.

Scouts taking a quick break

Part of the trail clearing crew last Saturday

Moose Mountains is Cooking!

Recent snow and fall colors at Moose Mountains (photo: J.Morris)

Land Stewards Jason Morris and Scott Lavoice have been super active at Moose Mountains Reservation in Middleton ever since they decided to take the steward training last May. They've jumped into things with what I like to think of as "wild abandon," marking and clearing out all the neglected trails, making and installing signage, and creating cool trail maps for hikers that they leave at the kiosk. And the really great thing is that as they work, they're always exploring too... turning over leaves to look at delicate little spiders, discovering glades of beautiful wildflowers, or having run-ins with the local wildlife. Jason, who has been blogging about hiking in NH for years, has also started a blog and a facebook page just for Moose Mountains, where he posts his amazing photographs and describes their adventures in stewarding. Check out the blog here, and there's also a link on the sidebar of this blog too.

Scott installing snow markers for their routed signs (photo: J.Morris)

A recent wild encounter! (photo: J. Morris)

Recently the Forest Society led a hike on Moose Mountains to raise funds and awareness about our efforts to add additional conservation lands to this already 2,300 acre block. Mike Speltz, SPNHF Land Protection Specialist, led the trek up the steep slopes of several mountains to an unusual pitch pine natural community with over two dozen people in tow. Jason and Scott were extremely helpful to Mike on that day with such a large crowd, and Jason also wrote up a neat description of the day in the MM blog. Be sure to check that out when you get a chance! Originally I was apprehensive about assigning such a huge reservation to any particular steward, but now I'm just hoping that Moose Mountains is large enough to keep Jason and Scott interested for years to come!

Moose Mtns hike on Oct 22nd (photo: J.Morris)

Back to Work (and Bears) at Buxton-Simons Forest

One view from Mt. Wallingford (photo: T.Iriwin)

Terry Irwin, land steward for the Buxton-Simons Forest, has been back at it organizing workdays to clear a spectacular view from the top of Mount Wallingford in Weare. He's building a local cadre of helpers now and is quite self-sufficient, stopping in to pick up enough tools for everyone and then dropping them off after his workday is finished. A few days later, land management staff will receive a report and photos of the work completed - voila! On this latest workday there were five participants including abutting landowners Remi Lisee and Charlie Bowen, land stewards Terry Irwin and Len Martin (Bockes-Ingersoll Forest) and the Forest Society's VP of Land Protection, Paul Doscher (who also happens to live nearby in Weare). The views were significantly expanded, but Terry reports that there's still work to be done next spring!

The crew minus Terry (from L to R): Remi Lisee, Len Martin, Paul Doscher, Charlie Bowen (photo: T.Iriwin)

It seems humans are not the only residents of Weare that appreciate all the work on Buxton-Simons Forest. Charlie Bowen, an abutting landowner, sent this photo in of a mother black bear and her three cubs just after the workday. (photo: C.Bowen)

Morse Preserve Dedication

Morse Preserve in Alton Bay is looking more spectacular than ever lately. Though the Forest Society has owned the property for a few years now, we held a formal dedication earlier this month to honor the donation of this 431 acre reservation by Alton native Mary Jane Morse Greenwood. The property had been her family's land for generations, and she grew up harvesting and selling blueberries, eggs, and other produce on the slopes of Pine Mountain. To prepare for the dedication, a number of land stewards got together to spruce up the trails and make sure everything was in top condition. The Forest Society has also been doing some heavier duty habitat management on the property lately: mowing and brontosaurus clearing in order to maintain a mosaic of open areas and early successional forest that will favor a great number of wildlife species. The openings will also serve to maintain the blueberry barrens for public picking, as well as preserve the amazing views of Lake Winnipesaukee and the Belknap and Ossipee Mountains.

Our land steward crew preparing for the dedication

Morse Preserve steward Suzanne Marvin points out a landscape feature to steward Jennifer Mayor (Hills Forest) while her granddaughter and pup sit nearby

Also honored at the dedication was David Roberts, who has spent a good deal of his life exploring, mapping, and photographing the Belknaps and Ossipees. On our land steward workday, we erected an interpretive display showing the different peaks that are visible from Morse Preserve, which is in honor of Dave's work and generosity. If you want to check out some of Dave's photographs of mountains in this area, click here. The mountain profile sign we installed had to be affixed to bare granite bedrock, so it was quite the challenge to get in the ground. Thanks to a rock drill obtained by Jason for the day, we were able to get it done in time!

Drilling into granite to get the interpretive display sign up (photo: W.Weisiger)

Dave Roberts (left) with his friend Glenn Lush, standing in front of the new mountain profile display on the top of Pine Mountain.